1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sequence-control programming apparatus and a sequence-control programming method, configured to generate a control program for sequence control. The invention also relates to an operating system including a sequence-control programming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An operating system which includes a robot and an operating instrument (e.g., an end effector, a process machine, a conveying device, etc.) cooperating with each other, may have a variety of configurations. It is also common practice to redesign the previously designed configuration of the operating system so as to correspond to a change in the type of the robot or the operating instrument, in the number of robots or operating instruments, etc. The designing of the operating system includes creating a control program for sequence control of the robot or the operating instrument. Usually, the control program for sequence control includes various commands or parameters described using a specialized description method known as ladder logic, and the creation of the control program requires knowledge and skill, related to programming using the ladder logic. The control program is stored in a memory incorporated in a controller, such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) for controlling the overall operation of the operating system, a robot controller for controlling the robot, etc., and when the control program is rewritten, a new control program created by rewriting is also stored in the memory in addition to the old program, which may require the provision of a large capacity memory or may affect an arithmetic processing by the controller.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-264928 (JP 2008-264928 A) discloses an initial setting method for an industrial robot, in which a ladder program is created in advance, which includes an operation program for making a plurality of peripheral devices connected to the industrial robot perform a sequence of operations, and an instruction as to whether or not to operate each of the peripheral devices is entered with respect to the ladder program through a selection using an input switch of a touch panel, so as to be able to create a control program complying with the requirement of an actual operation.